Power surges plague Orem ¬The Daily Herald on Friday, April 27 OREM -- Power surges in some Orem homes Thursday afternoon had residents wondering just what was happening.

Dave Eskelsen, Utah Power and Light spokesperson, named a capacitor bank at the Hale Substation around 3:30 p.m. as the culprit.

Eskelsen said capacitor banks serve as voltage regulator devices, and that physical disturbances to power lines or poles cause jumps in the capacitors.

"Frankly, our dispatchers aren't quite sure exactly what caused it, but we made some adjustments and fixed it quickly," he said.

Eskelsen also said he doesn't believe the surges were caused by any kind of demand problem.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A9.

http://www.harktheherald.com/article.php?sid=10778&mode=thread&order=0

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 27, 2001